Haven
by Paillette
Summary: Haven is a battlefield in the aftermath of Metal Kor's defeat. After an airborne accident, Jak & Keira must survive the carnage and find their friends. Jak 3 friendly, rated for mild gore.
1. Chapter 1

**Haven**

**Disclaimer **I do not own nor did I create _Jak II_, its characters, plots, locations, etc. It all belongs to Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment America.

**A/N**: There is mention of "a green energy shield over the city." This is my own take on Vin's "shields" that he always talked about (see end A/N if you're still not convinced). As Sig says, just roll with it.

**-P**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Come on, Jak," Daxter said as he jumped from his usual perch on Jak's shoulder and ran over to the balloon. "We're gonna miss our flight!"

Jak nodded slowly and took one last look around the Metal Head nest where he had just defeated Kor and witnessed his younger self depart for the past, along with "the light." He was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea that he had just saved himself so that he could save himself again in the future, which was his now his past of about five minutes ago... Jak vigorously shook his head.

_No use thinking about it_, he thought with a sigh. Instead, he looked around the room at all the friends who had helped him get this far. He saw Daxter, his best friend turned ottsel, arms crossed and paw tapping impatiently where he stood on the raft of the Lurker balloon. Next to him stood Keira, arms also crossed over her chest as she stared vacantly at the fresh ruins of the Rift Ring. He was willing to bet that the mechanic was pondering some way to rebuild the ring again.

Jak smiled privately to himself as he followed her gaze to the demolished ring. Samos stood nearby, also studying the remains. He suddenly wondered how they felt, knowing that their only way back home to Sandover was now destroyed, just so that his younger self could follow in his footsteps through time...

_Especially Keira_, Jak thought, suddenly downcast as he looked back at her. She was chewing on her bottom lip slightly– a nervous habit she'd had since they were kids. He knew that she had wanted so badly to go back home that she had constructed the Rift Rider to begin with. He wondered suddenly if she blamed him for her present banishment.

Before he could think anymore about it, Jak gave a sudden start as he noticed Brutter the Lurker hauling the decapitated Metal Head leader's head onboard the balloon raft.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Daxter cried out, wildly gesticulating toward the head. "What do you think you're doing with _that_? I never want to see another Metal Head for as long as I live!"

"Brutter thought it would make good trophy, no?" the Lurker panted as he tossed the head toward raft. "Not every day you bag Metal Header leader!"

The head landed right in front of Daxter, who yelped and scurried up Keira's back to hide in her hair.

"Eek! Daxter!" Keira cringed as Daxter clawed his way up. "You have longer nails than _me_!"

Daxter had curled himself around her neck like a fur stole when Jak smiled and walked up to literally pull his best friend out of Keira's hair.

"It's okay, Dax," Jak said with a wink at Keira as he set Daxter back on his shoulder. "Not everyone looks as good in fur as we do..."

"_We?_" Daxter scoffed. "At least _you_ aren't coveredin it! And I ain't your accessory, Ms. Jak!"

"Now, now, children..." Samos warned as he carefully side-stepped Kor's head, not wanting to get any closer to it than Daxter did. "Let's just concentrate on getting home."

"Yes, we must be going now, no?" Brutter tugged on a rope that attached the raft to the ground. "Gas in balloon no can last forever!"

Jak looked up to see the balloon looking slightly saggy as it bobbed in the air. Unlike a hot air balloon, Lurker balloons were filled with blue eco gas that eventually escaped over time. Brutter could only land the balloon one more time by releasing the gas before it wouldn't rise anymore.

As the raft slowly floated higher into the air, Jak and Daxter peered over the edge to see the Metal Head nest disappear beneath them. They could still see swarms of Metal Heads and could hear their feral screams as the confused monsters attacked each other in panic over the death of their leader.

"Think they'll just finish each other off?" Daxter asked as he warily watched the commotion below them. Jak shook his head grimly.

"Don't count on it. Who knows what they've already done to the city..."

Keira looked worried. "When we left, the shield dome was down and people were being overrun by those monsters. What if there isn't a city left to go back to?"

"Don't worry, my dear," Samos said in a soothing voice. "No doubt they'll retreat when they learn of the death of their master. And the shield may be back on-line by now..."

"If shield be back on," Brutter chimed in. "We all be in big trouble, no? Lurker Balloon no can travel through 'green lights,' and we is losing air time," he said, motioning to the balloon above them. It was true, they were beginning to lose altitude.

"It's Kor's big fat head!" Daxter glared accusingly at the oozing head. "Let's throw him overboard!"

Brutter gasped and stood protectively in front of the head.

"No no! Big monument in Lurker history! Is present for friend Jak!"

"Quiet, you two," Jak snapped as he was starting to get irritated at the banter around him. While he struggled to maintain a determined outlook, internally his anxiety rose. His gaze was fixed on the city as they approached. Even from this distance, they could hear screaming and gunshots. The fighting had not yet ended.

Everyone aboard the raft seemed tense. Daxter glared at Brutter silently from his perch on Jak's shoulder, who was standing in a corner grasping one of the ropes for balance. Jak looked over toward where Keira stood, arms wrapped tightly around herself as she stood in the middle of the raft with her father and chewing on her lip harder than ever. Brutter was holding on to a rope at the head of the raft, pulling it in an attempt to steer the balloon toward the darkened city.

"I don't see the energy shield yet, do you Jak?" Daxter asked, clutching his friend's shoulder a little tighter.

"That last transmission we got from Vin..." Samos began quietly. "It didn't sound good. The shield dome could be down for a long time."

"Ashelin and Torn should be working to get the city's defenses back," Jak said as he pulled out his communicator. "Maybe they know what's going on."

Jak turned on the communicator to static. He paged Ashelin and waited for a response. At first, there was only more static, but soon they could make out the sounds of gunfire coming over the radio waves.

"Ashelin?" Jak asked. "You there?"

More static, and then a sudden explosion. They all looked up to see a small ball of fire rise into the sky over the distant city.

"Dammit, Jak!" Ashelin's irritated voice finally shouted through the radio. "This is not the best time!"

"Ashelin!" Jak growled as he walked across the raft to the edge that was approaching the city. "We need to know if the shield dome is coming back on-line! Do you read me?"

There were more gunshots, and a curse from Ashelin.

"How the hell am I supposed to know!" she yelled finally, accompanied with a few more shots from her pistol. "I sent a team to the power plant over an hour ago! If it were coming back on-line, it would have happened by now!"

They were creeping nearer and nearer to the city, and they could still see no sign of the glowing green shield that usually arced over the city's sky. If it came back on-line while they tried to pass through it, they could be cut in half.

"Listen," Ashelin continued. "You shouldn't try to get back into the city right now anyway. I just got a transmission from Torn who's holding on to the perimeter walls, and he said the Metal Heads were barricading the doors from the outside."

Everyone moved to look over the edge of the raft at the city's foundation and saw the writhing masses of Metal Heads beating relentlessly against the heavy doors, preventing anyone from entering or exiting.

"I guess that cuts off entrance from the ground level," Samos sighed.

"I still say we should dump Kor's head on 'em," Daxter muttered.

"This city is a Mar-damned death trap," Ashelin went on. "Just get the hell out while you can."

"Not a chance," Jak grit his teeth as they were less than 100 yards from the perimeter. "We're coming in– over and out."

"Jak," Keira said shakily. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do? I mean, going back in there..."

"There's nothing else we can do, Keir," Jak said, gesturing to the balloon above them. "This balloon is going down one way or the other."

"Yeah," Daxter piped up. "Either we head into the city full of Metal Heads, or hang out here with all the Metal Heads! It's your choice, sister!"

Keira cast a scathing glance at the ottsel, but before she could open her mouth to reply, Brutter interrupted her.

"Look! Look!" he shouted gleefully. "Balloon almost over city! Here we come, Metal Headers!"

Everyone held their breath as the balloon passed silently over the barricade. The anguished screams of the frustrated Metal Heads filled the air as they desperately tried to claw up the concrete walls to reach the balloon.

"Nyah nyah!" Daxter called out, leaning off of Jak's shoulder as he stuck his tongue out at the monsters.

"Easy, Dax– we're not out of the woods yet," Jak reprimanded as he pulled Daxter back by his tail. There were still hoovering in the shield zone.

"Okay, Brutter, take us down as fast as possible."

Keira visibly shuddered as they neared the battles waging on the ground floor. Suddenly, Jak's communicator lit up.

"Jak!" called Ashelin's voice. "Jak, do you read me?"

Jak quickly pressed the call button. "I'm here. What's going on down there?"

"I just got a call from my team at the power plant. They finally managed to get the grids on-line. The shield should be activating any minute now."

"WHAAT!" Daxter yelled, grabbing the communicator from Jak. "Listen, lady. Do you have any idea where we are right now! Tell 'em to KEEP IT OFF!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ashelin snapped at the ottsel. "I thought you just told me to turn it on! Where the hell are you?"

Before they could answer, a crackle of electricity flashed through the air. Keira's terrified eyes locked on to Jak's.

"Brutter!" Jak shouted. "Get us the hell do–"

But before Brutter could comply, a flash of green streaked over the skyline.

"Get down!"

Jak lunged forward, knocking Keira over the edge of the raft as the shield sliced through the air above their heads. The force field split through the balloon and ripped the raft in half. Everyone screamed as they were thrown in the impact and plummeted toward the city.

* * *

**A/N**: I just wanted to clarify the shield thing again before I get any reviews about how wrong I am. I just thought that those "shield walls" that Vin was always ranting about would make sense if it were **a dome protecting the city from the airborne Metal Heads.** The dome could be so high up that from the ground level in the city, you could look up and not see the green glow. Don't ask me how it rains in there– maybe the city has its own climate control.

**-P**


	2. Chapter 2

**Haven**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Jak's nose twitched. Someone was tickling his face. His eyes fluttered open and he blinked, staring up at the dark sky as rain fell softly. Another drop landed between his eyes, and he blinked again.

_The sky..._ Jak wondered distantly. _Wait a minute, the shield!_

Jak immediately tried to stand up, but stars burst into his vision. He lay carefully back down for a minute, trying to recall where he was and what he was doing there. Flashes of the accident passed through his mind– the green light of the force field, the balloon tearing apart. He remembered everyone screaming and falling, and someone calling his name...

He looked from his left side to his right, still lying down. He seemed to have fallen into an alley somewhere in the city. From the looks of the ragged rooftops around him and the dirty gutters that he was almost laying in, he appeared to be in the slums.

With a groan, Jak managed to sit up again. He cracked his neck and looked down at the soggy cardboard he had landed on. His communicator was on the ground to his left, but Jak could see that it had been smashed beyond usefulness.

He looked around and found his gun lying near a heap of trash. He rose to claim it, hoping that it too had not been busted in the fall when he heard a low moan. He saw a shadow laying limply in the gutter some 5 yards in front of him. It twitched.

"Ooh, my head..." Keira moaned.

Jak quickly lowered his gun and ran the short distance to where she lay. "Keira, are you okay?" he asked, gingerly rolling her over. She blinked and raised a hand to the bleeding gash above her eyebrow and winced a little.

"I think... I hit the roof, literally..." she managed to smile. Jak was quickly relieved at the sign of her old humor returning.

"Does anything else hurt?" he asked, looking her up and down for any more injuries. Keira just moaned softly again as she struggled to sit up.

"You mean, other than every inch of my body after falling who knows how far out of the sky?" she regarded him sarcastically. "No, not much." She paused and looked around the dingy alley. "Where's everyone else?" Distantly, they could hear sirens and random gunfire, but no more screaming. Their eyes stung from the smoke hanging in the air, and they could hear a blazing fire not far away. They were otherwise alone.

"We should get moving," Jak said gruffly as he stood up and extended a hand to her. She took it and pulled herself to her feet, her ankle immediately collapsing underneath her. Jak caught her before she fell. "Here, throw your arm over my shoulder," he said, adjusting his gun so that he could hold it with one arm.

Cautiously, the two stepped out into the deserted street. There were small fires everywhere, mostly originating from the wrecked zoomers that had either crashed into the street or a nearby building. Jak moved quickly, recognizing where they were while Keira stared wide-eyed at the carnage around them. There were fewer bodies lying about than she had expected, pushed to the sides of the streets or crushed up against walls. Even so, there seemed to be much more blood streaking the pavement and splattered against the sides of the buildings than could be accounted for.

Keira numbly attributed these facts to the suggestion that the Metal Heads had carried off most of their kills to gorge somewhere. She was suddenly swept up in a wave of nausea and leaned heavier onto Jak's shoulder, who tightened his grip around her waist but kept moving.

They were close to the Hide Out, or the Underground headquarters. As they slipped into the cool, dark alley, Jak noticed that it had escaped much of the chaos. He helped Keira to lean against a wall while he shoved the door open, beckoning her to follow. She slid her hand along the wall as a guide in the dark hallway and carefully hobbled down the stairs.

Jak held a finger to his lips, indicating that he wanted her to be still and quiet as he approached the second door. It slid open easily as it always did, and Jak aimed his gun around the room. It was empty and seemingly untouched– the beds were still made, Torn's desk was still littered with papers and plans that had never gone into effect. There was even a fire still crackling harmlessly in the fireplace.

Jak lowered his gun and walked back to Keira, supporting her on his arm again as he led her into the room. He set her down gently on the bed and walked quietly toward another door at the end of the room, behind Torn's desk. It was open ajar, and a chill wind was whistling through the crack. Jak cautiously opened it to a small, deteriorating balcony that overlooked a recessed street below. He looked over a section of dark houses, apparently unscathed by the fires. All was eerily quiet.

Jak stepped back into the main room and bolted the door behind him. He set down his gun and started rummaging through Torn's stuff, looking for some kind of first-aid kit to heal Keira's wounds. He settled for some athletic tape and cloth bandages, and hesitated for a moment before also grabbing some paper-wrapped plastic band-aids. He remembered when Torn had introduced him to these sticky things, and how it had stung when he tried to tear it off.

_It's better than nothing_, he supposed carrying his armload back to Keira, who hadn't spoken since her recovery in the alley. She held her bowed head in one hand while her other arm was wrapped tightly around her middle. Jak kneeled in front of her, looking at her with some unease.

"You should sit up straight, or else the blood will run to your head."

Keira obeyed, though slowly. She did not open her eyes and kept her hand clasped to her forehead. Jak kneeled in front of her, quickly wrapping her ankle the way he had done it to himself many times before when he was training back in Sandover.

When he was satisfied that her ankle was going to live, he crossed the room again to the fireplace and snagged a tea kettle that had been hanging near the fire. He walked over to the water pipe and filled the kettle before returning it to the fire. He waited in silence for the water to warm up; thoughts of what they were going to do after this were running rampant in his head. Should they search for Daxter and the others, or join the fight to get the city back online? And what about the Metal Heads?

"Okay, Keir, you can take your hand away now," he said as he pulled the kettle from the fire and crossed the room to kneel in front of her again. She did not seem to hear him.

_Is she in shock?_ Jak wondered with a sudden twinge of guilt. He reached up and gently pulled her hand away, and her eyes opened slowly. She stared at him sadly but didn't say anything.

Jak bit his bottom lip and decided to work in silence as he moistened a rag in the hot water and raised it to dab at the caked blood and dirt above her eyebrow. As he made contact with her skin, Keira jerked back slightly and winced at the sting.

"It's okay," he soothed. "I'm just cleaning it up, so hold still..."

Keira closed her eyes tightly and bit her lips together until they were white. He dabbed at the wound as gently as he could until it revealed itself to be a shallow scrape.

"You'll be fine," he tried to reassure her. "Head wounds bleed a lot, but it's just a scratch." Jak fumbled with the wrapper of a bandage, trying to figure out how to apply it to the wound. "Things sure have changed since Sandover, huh?" he laughed, finally liberating the bandage. He reached up and lightly stuck it over her eyebrow.

"Sticky bandages," he went on. "Who would have thought? Well, probably Samos, since he came from this time, but he never..." Jak smiled up at Keira, hoping to cheer her up a little. Instead of smiling, however, Keira choked on a sob and started crying.

"Oh man, Keira, I'm sorry– I forgot..." he said quickly, feeling that pang of guilt again as he regretted bringing up the name of her now-missing father. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to comfort her before he half-stood to hug her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." he began. She clung to him tightly and sobbed onto his shoulder as he stood, rocking her slightly. Seeing people cry had always made Jak nervous, and now he wasn't sure of what to do. He patted her awkwardly on the back before pulling away and sitting down beside her. Keira hiccupped and rubbed the backs of her hands against her eyes in an effort to make them stop crying.

"No, I'm sorry, Jak," she managed to say, her voice hoarse and her nose stuffy. She looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and tried to smile. "I shouldn't be so sensitive about Sandover, and... everything that's happening right now. I just..." she trailed off, and Jak continued to look concerned. "I just don't know what's going on anymore," she said, defeated.

Jak shifted on the bed nervously. "Well," he started, unsure of what he could say to brighten the situation. She looked at him expectantly. "Things aren't... as bad as they look," he finished pathetically. Keira looked like she might cry again.

"I mean, the worst is definitely over, right?" he tried to sound reassuring as he rose and walked across the room to pick up his gun. "Kor is dead. The Metal Heads are in confusion. They seem to have abandoned this part of town, and they'll probably have to withdraw. Then we'll regain the city– simple as that," he smiled genuinely.

"I bet Ashelin and Torn already have the boarders secure," he went on confidently. "And we know first-hand that the shield dome is back up, or at least, it was before we crashed into it..."

Keira looked at him worriedly. "What happened to Daddy after that? And Daxter and Brutter? Why weren't they near us when we woke up?"

Jak's smile faded and he averted his eyes to the ground. There had been no sign that anyone else had survived the crash with the shield walls. It was possible that they had fallen a ways away– they might even have been on the other side of the dead-end wall of the alley that they had woken up in. Or they could have fallen on the other side of the shield, the side overrun with Metal Heads. Or worse still, like the raft, they could have been caught up in the shield itself and... He squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't think of them as dead, especially not Daxter. They had come too far to lose now.

"I'm sure they're okay," Jak said, perhaps too forcefully. Keira was caught off guard by the dark glitter she saw when he opened his eyes. In another moment, however, it was gone. "What matters most right now is getting out of here," he went on determinedly. "We'll probably find the others along the way, but we need to keep moving."

"What?" Keira asked, bewildered. "But I thought you said it was safe here? Shouldn't we stay and wait for the others?"

"No, I mean, yes, it's safe for now, but..." Jak pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to have to think anymore. "Metal Heads are hunters. Even while they are retreating, they could come across us and sniff us out. It's better to leave a trail in the opposite direction, away from the outer walls where they'll be heading."

"You mean head deeper into the city?" she asked, panic beginning to creep back into her voice.

"It's the only way," Jak said, suddenly looking very tired. "My communicator was smashed after the fall, so we can't just call and find out where everyone is. And if you think about it, the center of the city is likely to be safest, since the Metal Heads had to have breached the walls first and moved inward from there."

"But Jak..."

"No 'buts,' now let's go," he snapped as he moved toward the exit. Jak instantly regretted his lack of patience as Keira immediately shut up and looked away. He looked back at her where she still sat on the bed, arms wrapped tightly around her. As he watched her looking so vulnerable, Jak vaguely recalled that it was cold in Haven City at night and she was still only wearing that tank top that she had crossed the Rift in.

He quickly surveyed the room and found what he was looking for where it laid at the foot of Torn's bed. He crossed the room and picked up the baggy sweatshirt, tossing it into Keira's lap. Startled, she picked up the smelly, ratty thing before eyeing him dubiously.

"Put it on," he ordered as he reloaded the Morph Gun. "It's cold out there and you're barely dressed."

Keira opened her mouth to defend the "appropriateness" of her clothing but thought better of it. Instead, she just glared and pulled the oversized shirt over her head. It was ridiculously large on her small frame, as it was standard grey Krimzon Guard fatigues and Keira definitely didn't have the body of a soldier. The hem brushed at her knees and she had to push the sleeves up to her elbows.

"Better?" she asked sarcastically, still glaring at him.

Jak spared her a glance. This was going to be a wonderful trip if they were going to spend it bickering.

"Let's go."

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own nor did I create _Jak II_, its characters, plots, locations, etc. It all belongs to Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment America. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Haven**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Jak and Keira moved carefully out of the slums with Jak in point, silently side-stepping the wreckage as his eyes constantly scanned the situation around them.

Keira moved less stealthily, partly because of her wrapped ankle and partly because she wasn't watching where she was stepping. Once, she tripped over a twisted piece of metal and earned a warning glare from Jak. She just glared back and tried to keep up with him. She was learning to not deliberately look at the ground, as that was where most of the bodies lay. The stench of burning flesh filled the air, making Keira swoon more than once, but soon that too became only a dull ache in the pit of her stomach.

They found fewer signs of death and wreckage as they moved, pressing in on the city. It made sense that the signs of the attack would have been less severe as they left the initial ground zero, when the walls had fallen. They kept up the pace until they reached the power block, which Keira recognized as the place with the metal-sided buildings and the roadways running above them.

Upon entering the area, the smoke became thicker and they could hear flames blazing strongly ahead of them. They rounded a corner and found a massive wreck burning in the middle of the parkway, and there seemed to be no way around it. Jak motioned for her to pull back from the heavy black smoke. Keira crouched down on the ground, trying to breathe some cleaner air while Jak surveyed the area from a distance and made his decision.

"Are you kidding!" Keira nearly squeaked when Jak proposed they go through the sewers. "You want me to go in _there_? With the rats, and, and the..."

Jak rolled his eyes as he walked down the nearby ramp and started removing debris that blocked the entrance to the sewers. "It'll be way easier to go under the wreck than around it," he said gruffly as he heaved a heavy piece of metal away from the door. He had no way of knowing whether or not the Metal Heads had used this way to penetrate the city– after all, he had encountered them down there before. But it was better than back tracking and risking another pass so close to the exposed walls.

"I've been down here– _before_... and, urrgh!" he panted as he strained to manually open the lock. All the doors within the city were in lock-down after the power-outage, and now Jak was trying to shove the bolts backward. They weren't budging. Keira watched him with some amusement for several moments before stepping around him.

"Need some help?" she grinned. Jak just narrowed his eyes.

"No. Just keep a look out for..."

Keira slipped one slim hand behind the bolt that Jak was pushing against. She screwed her face upward in concentration as she fiddled with the latch.

_Click._

Keira beamed as all the deadbolts simultaneously released. She dusted her hands off and crossed them over her chest, waiting for her props. Jak stared at the unlocked door with his mouth hanging slightly ajar for a second or two, but quickly snapped out of it when he saw the look of triumph on her face.

"All right, I get it..." he said grudgingly, but not without a small smile. "I guess your freakishly tiny hands came in handy after all."

"These aren't 'freakishly tiny' hands! These are skilled _mechanic's_ hands," she said smugly as she flexed her fingers.

_Oh man, Dax would have a field day with that one_, Jak grinned as he thought what his friend would say about Keira's "skilled mechanic's hands." All at once, the smile fell from his face as he remembered that Daxter was still missing, and that he had no way of knowing if he would ever hear him crack another bad joke again. Keira noticed the sudden solemnity that passed over Jak's face, and she could only wonder what he was thinking about as he stepped toward the door with such grim determination in his eyes.

"Come on, Ms. Mechanic," he said as he pushed his shoulder into the crack between the double doors. "Help me push."

Together, they managed to push away the left side of the door to reveal the elevator shaft. The elevator was stopped at the bottom. Jak wasted no time in jumping down to land on the platform several feet below, but Keira with her sprained ankle had to hobble toward the near-by ladder.

Meanwhile, Jak approached yet another sealed entrance. This one was the official "You Are Now Exiting The City, Be Careful Not To Die" door with the whirring cogs. Not wanting to look as foolish as he had when he tried to force the last door, he waited impatiently for Keira to carefully pick her way down the ladder to examine it with him.

"You could have jumped, you know," he said when she finally joined him in front of the door. "I would have caught you." Keira glared at him reproachfully.

"Did you forget? My ankle is sprained."

"So? I wouldn't have caught you by your feet."

"No one in their right mind would take a jump like that, Jak," she said airily as she stepped forward to study the door. Before Jak could open his mouth with a retort, Keira pointed to the top-most cog in the door mechanism.

"Jak? Can you give me a lift? I can't reach that one..."

Jak kneeled down in front of the door and cupped his hands for Keira to step into. She placed her un-injured foot on his hands and he stood up, lifting her effortlessly– a little too effortlessly, as Keira lost her balance from the sudden motion and fell backward.

"W, whaaa!" she cried, almost kicking Jak in the face if he had not just stepped backward to catch her. She glared at him as he held her, legs draped over one arm and her back supported by the other. He flashed her a boyish grin, one she remembered from their days back in Sandover.

"Whoops," he bit back a laugh. "I meant to do that..."

Keira managed to wriggle out of his grasp, almost wriggling out of her borrowed sweatshirt that Jak had forced her to wear. She fought with the excess fabric of the gigantic shirt and pulled the hem back down to her knees. Jak had to bite his lips very hard to keep from laughing at her as she preened herself.

"Finished?" he asked, eyes laughing.

"Only if you think you can give me a boost without throwing me over your shoulder again!" she exclaimed huffily. "Honestly, I don't know what sort of acrobatics you and Daxter get up to, but I'm not as flexible as an ottsel..."

"Okay, I promise I won't try to throw the smack down on you again. Now let's just try to get this door open already." He kneeled in front of the door again, and Keira regarded him warily. After a moment realizing that she hadn't moved, Jak looked over his shoulder at her.

"Come on! What are you waiting for?"

"Well, turn around a little so that I can step into your hands again!" Keira said, frustrated with having to explain the obvious. Jak just shook his head and turned back around.

"Just climb up onto my shoulders. It'll be more stable if I can hold your legs so you can't wobble around again."

Keira blushed at the idea of straddling the back of Jak's neck, but when he made it clear that he wasn't going to move, she took a deep breath and climbed up onto his shoulders. He rose slowly this time and she came eye-level with the offending cog.

"Can you break it?" he called out from beneath her.

Keira squinted at it. The doors were built to be brute-proof, but delicate screws held the complex parts together. She picked one and twisted it carefully…

The cog abruptly fell from the door, narrowly missing Jak's foot as it hit the ground. He flinched and took a step back to regain his balance. Keira nearly screamed as her center of gravity swayed, and she clutched Jak's head as an anchor.

"Ouch! Keira! Get your nails out of my scalp!"

"You said you weren't going to move this time!" she yelled, thumping him on the head.

"Ow!"

Keira put her hands on his shoulders and jumped gracefully backward, pushing Jak headlong into the door. He collided into it, sending the second, larger cog reeling now that its lock on the first cog was broken. The doors slid open easily.

"See, was that so hard?" Keira asked as she daintily stepped past Jak, who was picking himself off the ground and rubbing his forehead. The two entered the long hallway of the sewer entrance, and Keira heard Jak draw and cock his gun behind her.

"Okay, so the sewers pretty much run in a circle..." he said as he walked up to stand beside her. "I think we should take the elevator down and look for a grill or something that can be blasted away, and then we might be able to follow a tunnel to the other side of the city..." Keira turned to stare at him disbelievingly. He blinked back at her.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused by the look on her face. "I think it's a pretty good plan…"

"A grill, or _something_..." she said, eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms over her chest in her patented "indignant princess" stance that she had once ruled over Jak and Daxter when they were kids. Jak cringed slightly.

"That we _might_ be able to follow... Jak!" she resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. "Don't you realize how shaky that sounds? _If_ we find a way out, we could end up anywhere! You really expect me to just go along with this?"

"Hmm... well," Jak began, as if he were considering her argument. He brought his gun up to eye level and began to walk forward while Keira stood huffily in place behind him. "I mean, if you don't like it, you can always hang out here..." he trailed off mildly. He shifted the Morph Gun into "Blaster Mode."

"But I'm warning you," he turned around quickly and aimed the laser sight directly over Keira's shoulder. Keira jumped and looked behind her, certain that Jak was aiming at a Metal Head that was creeping up on them.

"I'm not just fooling around, Keira," he said softly, lowering his gun. Keira glanced around the narrow cavern like a nervous rabbit, looking for what Jak had been aiming at and finding nothing. Realizing that she had been tricked, she whirled around to face Jak again, expecting another grin on his face. He stared at her somberly.

"Just stay close to me, Keir," he said seriously. "I won't let them hurt you."

Keira's heart was beating faster than the time she and Jak had sneaked out of the village on the zoomer and wrecked it on Sentinel Beach. Jak turned and started walking down the tunnel, and Keira swallowed hard before racing after him. She clung to his left arm, and Jak suddenly felt guilty for scaring her like that. But she had to take this seriously. They were in enemy territory now.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh yeah, and Keira's characterization seems to have a mind of its own. I myself am surprised by this suddenly clumsy, indignant princess (she _kind_ of had that anyway– "Jak! Get me 20 more powercells!"). She'll get better, though. I just don't want her to be a she-male like Ashelin. 

**-P**

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own nor did I create _Jak II_, its characters, plots, locations, etc. It all belongs to Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment America.


	4. Chapter 4

**Haven**

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**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to **Lombax Luver** (even though she isn't reading this story), for the Morph Gun "tutorial" inspiration and general JaKeira interaction.

**ALL READERS**: You might notice that I make a reference to the Vulcan Fury in a scene were I don't think Jak had it yet in the game, but just humor me.

Also, Jak doesn't swear like the rest of the characters who say "Mar" in their expressions, like "Thank Mar you're here," etc. One reason being that while Keira may say it, she's been exposed to the city much longer than Jak, who was imprisoned those two years. Also, considering the third game, I think that it would be "inappropriate."

Sorry about the long A/N. On with the story!

**-P**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Now, the Metal Heads have known about this entrance into the city for a long time," Jak was explaining as he and Keira picked their way through the dingy tunnels. They had taken the elevator down to the bottom-most floor, and after a few false starts (Keira had snagged her huge sweatshirt on a valve that twisted and released a hissing rush of steam behind them, which Jak had shot at madly before he realized what it was), they were on their way.

"So why the heck are we down here, then?" Keira asked bluntly. It still didn't make sense to her that they were mucking around in Mar knew what, probably missing their only chance to find the others...

"Think about it," Jak said impatiently, his eyes still scanning the room for signs of movement. "The Metal Heads are retreating. We came all the way through the slums here without seeing so much as a skull gem, so that must mean that they're leaving the city. They'll be heading away from the center, which means they won't be pushing toward us through here since the exit is in the opposite direction."

"Unless they decide to use this as an escape route," Keira added darkly, still sure that this was a bad idea. "I mean, we left the doors wide open."

"Great, give me something else to worry about, why don't you?" Jak muttered as he cast a quick look backward. He toggled the Morph Gun to "Scatter," just in case he didn't turn around fast enough, and kept walking.

"What's that one called?" Keira asked innocently.

"What's what one called?" Jak asked irritably.

"That thing that you keep changing, on the gun," she pointed at the end of the gun, which Jak pulled up so that he didn't accidentally shoot her in the face.

"Watch where you're pointing those things," he nodded toward her "mechanic's hands." "It's called a Morph Gun, and right now it's in 'Scatter Mode.'"

"Why? How can it do that?" she asked, genuinely curious about anything technical.

"For close range attacks," he said matter-of-factly as he jumped up onto a slippery ledge. He reached down and extended a hand to Keira, who took it and sprang up onto the ledge next to him, careful to avoid landing on her injured ankle. "And don't ask me how it does that," he went on. "You're the genius, you tell me."

"Hmm..." Keira eyed the gun as if she wanted nothing more than to sneak it back to her workshop and dismantle it. Jak, entirely familiar with that gleam in Keira's eye, held his gun a little more protectively and walked ahead.

"Anyway, I call this one 'Shotty,' otherwise I get it confused with the blue one."

"What's the blue one?"

"Lefty."

"Why?"

Jak sighed. "Just because, Keira. Don't ask a man to explain his guns."

Keira would have giggled if she didn't find that statement extremely chauvinist. "Okay, then," she decided to ignore that last comment. "What's the one that you had on earlier? The yellow one."

"Oh, that one?" Jak paused to switch it back to "Blaster Mode." He suddenly couldn't remember ever giving that one a nickname.

"It's, uh... 'rifle.'"

"Rifle?" Keira did giggle this time. "Just 'rifle?' I was figuring you'd say something obtuse like, 'Old Yeller.'"

Jak flushed. "No, we just call it 'rifle,' now quit making fun of me."

"Who's 'we?'" Keira smiled at him, wondering if he spoke to his chauvinistic self in the third person, too.

"...Daxter."

"Oh."

They passed the next few moments in silence, the only sounds were their heavy footfalls on the wet cement, freakishly amplified in the tunnels. Keira was beginning to feel very depressed as she thought about Daxter, Samos, and even Brutter, wondering if they were okay when Jak suddenly chuckled. Keira looked up sharply to find Jak stifling back another laugh. He noticed her looking at him as if he had sprouted two heads.

"I just remembered..." he said, smiling as he looked ahead. "When Dax and me were down here for the first time, and we fell into this dark pit..." He smiled over at Keira, who was still looking at him as if he were mental.

"We fell into this pit with about thirty Metal Heads, and Daxter started screaming, 'Shotty! Shotty!' because he wanted me to use the Scatter Gun, but he was screaming so loud that I accidentally jammed it into 'Vulcan Fury' and got the trigger stuck..." He glanced at Keira again, who looked horrified that first they had fallen into a pit with thirty Metal Heads, and then they had broken their gun.

"Then it just fired until all the bullets were gone. But so were the Metal Heads, don't worry..." he said quickly, noticing Keira's paling face.

"Anyway... when it was all over, Dax picked himself off the floor, looked at me and said, 'Jak, the next time you decide to give old 'Lefty' a workout, take it to the bedroom..." Jak's face suddenly burned red as he realized he had just told Keira a dirty joke, but to his amazement, she started laughing.

"Jak!" she gasped between giggles. "You're such a… pervert!"

Jak smiled and was about to reply when a pipe suddenly burst above them, deafening them with the hissing sound. Momentarily blinded by the escaping gas, Jak could only hear Keira screaming above the noise of the sudden rupture. At first, Jak was worried that the steam was burning her face. Only when he noticed that the cloud of 'steam' bursting from the vent was cool and that Keira was still screaming did it register in his mind that something was very wrong.

"Keira!" Jak yelled through the dense fog. He grasped wildly about in front of him, searching for her as he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face through the thick air, when he was suddenly clubbed from behind. He hit the floor, his teeth clacking together when his jaw hit the pavement. He rolled over quickly as whatever had hit him swung again at his head but crashed into the floor instead. It was a Metal Head.

Jak started firing the Scatter Gun, pumping round after round into the area around him. He ran into at least three Metal Head bodies as they hit the ground. Jak couldn't hear Keira anymore. Abruptly, he stopped firing as a wave of horror overtook him.

"Keira!" he cried out again, feeling his way forward along the wall as he made his way through the dissipating fog. The air pressure in the pipe went down, reducing the noise level to a low sigh.

"Damn it!" he swore to himself. "Keira! Answer me!"

Jak paused and thought he heard a low whimper. He stumbled over the body of a newly-dead Metal Head as he moved toward the sound. The fog lifted and Jak saw a shapeless, quivering blob huddled in a corner of the room.

He quickly lowered his gun and ran to the huddled form of Keira, who had tucked herself almost completely into the giant grey sweatshirt with only her aqua-green hair poking out of the top. Jak dropped to the floor and pulled her roughly into his arms.

"Keira..." Jak said, his voice thick as he tucked her head under his chin. Keira swallowed hard and tried to stop crying. She shook her head and slowly unfolded her self from the tangles of the sweatshirt and out of Jak's death grip. She sat back and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Jak stood up and surveyed the room, raising the Morph Gun again. He counted five dead Metal Heads, and identified the one with huge scythe arms that must have been the one who ruptured the pipe. He walked over and shot a Blaster bullet into its skull for good measure. Satisfied, he walked back over to where Keira was still slumped against the wall. She cracked an eyelid as he squatted down in front of her.

"That was... close, wasn't it?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah, that was pretty close."

"I'm sorry I... ran away."

"It's okay, Keir..."

"The Metal Head, with the claws..." she nodded toward the one that Jak had just put a bullet through. "It came at me, but it only got the shirt..." she held up her left arm to show Jak the vicious slashes that had reduced the cloth to shreds on that side. His face darkened at the sight of the near-miss.

"Then I... fell, and I ended up over here..."

"Don't think about it anymore."

"But Jak..."

"I said don't think about it, Keira," he repeated forcefully. "It's over now, it's dead. You can get up now."

Keira looked terrified again. "No, no I can't," she shook her head vigorously and drew herself into a little ball again. Jak had never seen her so shaken, but then again, he had never seen her get viciously mauled by a monster in the sewers before.

"Keira, listen to me," Jak said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. She immediately clung to him, burying her face against his chest. He sighed and held her with his free arm. "I will never, ever let anything come that close to hurting you again. I swear."

She looked up at him and found his face set in absolute certainty– his jaw line straight and rigid, and his eyes narrowed and determined. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

* * *

**A/N**: Jak's gun nicknames are actually names that my little brother and I used when we were playing the game together (btw, "Lefty" is so named after the button that you press to bring out the gun). My little brother actually played the part of Daxter when he screamed "Shotty! Shotty!" whenever I was being mauled by Metal Heads.

**-P**

**

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**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own nor did I create _Jak II_, its characters, plots, locations, etc. It all belongs to Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment America.


	5. Chapter 5

**Haven**

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**A/N: **No, Jak does not know who "Mar" is yet, because this story takes place at the end of the second game. All he's doing is teasing Keira about her "language."

* * *

**Chapter 5**

After the Metal Head ambush, Jak had insisted upon complete silence, and Keira had been able to comply with little difficulty. Still shaken from the incident, she followed so closely behind Jak that when he stopped to investigate a storm grate, she bumped into his back.

"Omph, sorry," Keira muttered right behind his ear. Jak glanced quickly back at her before kneeling to inspect the grate.

"I'm pretty sure we're on the other side of the blockade by now," Jak said in a low voice. "This storm drain leads right up into the streets. We can take the maintenance ladder up to the first level."

"Are you sure we can fit in there?" Keira asked, eyeing the narrow pipe warily. Jak just shook the grate, testing its strength.

"Hey Keira, think your 'mechanic's hands' can work their magic on these screws?" Jak asked as he stood up and turned to her with a wry smile. She bit her bottom lip as she bent down to study the metal grating that caught debris after heavy rainfalls in Haven City.

"Nope, I'd need a tool of some kind– a screwdriver at least. My nails aren't _that_ strong."

"Okay then, stand back."

Keira quickly stood up and moved behind Jak as he drew the Morph Gun, toggling it to a purple ammunition that Keira didn't remember having seen before. Before she could ask him what it was, Jak had pressed and held the trigger, and a bolt of electricity built up at the end of the gun. Releasing the trigger caused the bolt of energy to rupture from the end of the gun and fly erratically toward the storm drain, exploding on impact.

Keira cringed behind Jak as the dust cleared. He walked up to the jagged remains of the grate and kicked them aside, clearing a hole for them to pass through to the pipe leading up to the street. Jak looked back at her with a grin as he shouldered his gun.

"Ladies first!" he said, gesturing dramatically toward the tiny tunnel. Keira smiled sarcastically before walking past him and standing in front of the rickety ladder that led up the drainpipe.

"Aren't you coming?" she called back to Jak, who was standing with his gun drawn and his back to her.

"Yep, just covering your escape," he called over his shoulder. "Just wait for me before you climb out all the way, okay?"

Keira only shook her head at Jak's insistence on playing the hero as she grasped the ladder rungs and began to climb. Unlike a manhole, the storm drain was uncovered where it opened into the gutter of the street. Keira tried not to think of what may have washed over these ladder rungs that she was clinging to as she worked her way up to the faint light above her.

She was about three quarters of the way up when she felt the ladder shake a little at the bottom. She paused to look down and see Jak's greenish-blonde head working up the ladder behind her. Grinning, she picked up the pace and reached the top in no time. As ordered, Keira stopped before climbing all the way out of the drain. She peered over the edge at the street and the city outside. This part of the city seemed much quieter than where they had fallen into the slums, with the sound of running water instead of burning fires. She didn't see as many signs of wreckage (or Metal Heads, for that matter).

"Okay, Keira," she heard Jak call right below her. She glanced down to see him stopped at her feet, looking up at her. "Hold still, I'm going to climb out first."

"What?" Keira asked, perplexed. "I'm already at the top, just let me–"

"No," Jak said firmly as he started climbing again, his hands grasping the rung right at her knees as he began to climb over her. "I need to make sure the coast is clear."

"Whatever, Jak," Keira mumbled as she tried to flatten herself to the ladder. She blushed as Jak fumbled for footing right on top of her, breathing onto the back of her neck before finally pulling himself up and over.

He was careful to not kick her in the face as he heaved himself out of the drain and onto the street, immediately drawing his gun and surveying the area. They had come much farther than he had expected, now on the other side of the city in the mall district. Jak began to recall racing the sociopath Erol through the water canals here, but he only frowned as he pushed the memory to the back of his mind and knelt down to pull Keira out of the drain.

She slid out easily and finally allowed herself to shudder after crawling through the slick sewer pipe. Jak grinned broadly as she reminded him of Daxter, shaking water and whatever else out of his fur after his own ventures into the sewer.

"Mar forbid I ever get another whiff of those sewers again..." Keira trailed off threateningly. Jak just shook his head and smiled at her crookedly.

"Since when do _you_ swear, Miss Manners?" he winked at her as he cocked the Morph Gun and started to walk down the street. Keira finished brushing herself off before running after him and taking up her place immediately behind him.

"Since I had to live in this _M__ar_-forsaken place," she retorted huffily. "From the moment I woke up here after lying unconscious in Haven Forest for who knows how long, I had to fight to just fit in. Picking up the lingo was part of the deal."

Jak had never considered what the others' experiences had been after their crash landing in the future. He had just assumed that they were nowhere near as bad as his own. Jak quickly stole a glance at Keira out of the corner of his eye to see her frowning slightly, as if visiting old memories of these past two years. She visibly shook herself and trotted to catch up to him.

"How's your ankle holding up?" Jak changed the subject as he shifted his gun and kept his eyes on the streets.

"I've come this far on it, I guess it's fine," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah right," Jak dismissed her attempt to brush him off as he glanced down at her injured foot. "We need to stop soon, anyway. There's not much use trying to find the others wandering around in the dark."

"I could have told you that when you decided to leave the Hide Out," Keira grumbled as she pushed up the long sleeves of the ragged sweatshirt again. Jak just rolled his eyes and started off down the street.

"That was different. Now we're farther away from the walls, and there's less chance of attack this deep into the city."

Keira decided against pointing out that they hadn't seen a Metal Head in the city yet, except when he had dragged her down into the sewers. She just sighed and hurried to catch up to him, but stumbled as she nearly rolled over her injured ankle. She fell to the street with a soft cry of surprise, and Jak spun around with his gun aimed over her head. When he saw that she had just fallen (and was not attacked by Metal Heads, as he had feared), he cursed at himself and ran over to help her up.

"I'm okay..." she started, lightly pushing off his support as she picked herself up. Instead of standing up, however, she sat back and leaned on the heels of her hands, looking up at Jak as he kneeled in front of her.

"This place is so quiet..." she said after a minute. Jak looked around them at all the empty shops and vacant streets. It was true that this inner section of the city seemed less war-torn, but it was only less by comparison. There was less blood and less glass, but the signs of attack were still apparent. Jak remembered hijacking a zoomer in this area on his race to the Metal Head nest. He knew that he had probably stranded the owner to die at the claws of a Metal Head, but in that moment, the only thing that seemed to matter was the defeat of the leader.

Looking around now, Jak suddenly felt guilty about what was left behind in the wake of his victory, and even more about what had not. There were no people. After all the curses and time spent threading his way through the masses of citizens on missions for Torn or Krew or some other boss, Jak would now have almost welcomed even a Krimzon Guard on high alert after being smacked in the head with a zoomer instead of all this dead silence.

_The Krimzon Guard_... Jak suddenly thought to himself. _Where are they? Surely not everyone has been killed... There must be fighting still going on somewhere..._

"Um, hello, Jak?" Keira said uncertainly again, waving her hands in front of Jak's vacant expression. Jak shook himself out of his musings and looked at her.

"What is it?"

"You just sort of spaced off there..." Keira said, looking at him sideways. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said as he stood and grabbed her hands to pull her up. He noticed that she was balancing most of her weight on her right foot, while her injured left foot gingerly brushed the ground. Keira saw his concerned look and she forced herself to press her left foot more firmly to the ground while suppressing a wince. Jak decided to humor her and change the subject.

"Isn't the stadium somewhere around here?" he asked, staring around the area again. Keira nodded toward a left turn in the road ahead.

"Yeah, it should be right up ahead, actually"

The sound of crumbling concrete interrupted her, and Jak quickly stepped in front of her with his gun aimed at the direction of the sound. Keira didn't dare breathe as Jak crept toward the turn in the road and jumped out from the corner with his gun ready to fire.

"Yeeahh!!" cried a strange voice. Jak ducked and rolled, and Keira screamed as she watched a large shadow leap at him.

"Jak!" she cried out, too late.

"Brutter?" Jak asked, standing up and lowering his gun.

Keira ran closer to the confrontation and identified the large shadow to be none other than Brutter the Lurker. _I'm never going to get used to Lurkers being friendly_, Keira sighed to herself as Brutter picked himself off the ground and ran to shake Jak's hand.

"Friends!" the excited Lurker cried as he grabbed Jak's whole arm and shook him so thoroughly that his head bobbed. "Brutter has been searching all over city to find you! Brutter is so happy..."

"Uh, that's great, Brutter," Jak said uneasily as he attempted to pull his arm out of Brutter's enthusiastic grasp. "Have you found the others? What about Daxter and Samos?"

"You two is only friends that Brutter find so far," Brutter said sadly. "After balloon accident, Brutter find himself alone and scared. Look for friends as fast as possible."

"Thank you, Brutter," Keira said warmly, trying to cheer up the Lurker. Keira tried not to flinch as he bared his fangs in a happy smile.

"Brutter no find the little orangy and greeny friends," the Lurker offered. "But he find some others with funny faces..."

"What are you talking about, Brutter?" Jak narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher Brutter's broken language. "You found some other survivors?"

"Yes!" he nodded eagerly. "And they is helping Brutter! 'Find Jak,' they say, and they go out to search too..."

"Someone is looking for us," Jak looked gravely at Keira, who noted the omnious tone in his voice. "Where are they?"

"Brutter left them at the stadium up ahead," the Lurker gestured from the direction he had pounced from. "Jak and Keir-ria should go there and talk to new friends."

"We will, Brutter," Jak said, cocking his gun. "Do you know their names?"

But Brutter was already bounding away in the direction opposite the stadium. "No worry!" he called back at Keira and Jak. "Just look for funny faces! They know who you is!"

"Wait, Brutter!" Keira called to him. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"No, Brutter must find other little friends!" his voice quickly fading into the distance. "Little greeny and orangey is counting on Brutter!

Brutter was gone as quickly as he had come, leaving the confused Keira and Jak in his wake.

"Do you think we should follow him?" Keira asked after a moment as she turned to look at Jak. "I mean, if he's looking for Daddy and Daxter, we should definitely help..."

"Wherever Dax and your dad are, I doubt they would benefit much from us running around blindly in the dark," Jak shrugged. "Right now, I want to head to the stadium. Funny faces... You think he meant KG tattoos?"

"You mean like Ashelin and Torn?" Keira filled in distastefully. She guessed that she was okay with Torn, since she had supported the Underground all along, but she was less than thrilled with the prospect of meeting up with the butch female Krimzon Guard commander. Jak noticed Keira's apparent reluctance to team up with Ashelin, but he decided to ignore it for the sake of survival.

"In any case, we should check it out. If it is Ashelin and Torn, then we could use all the help we can get." Jak started walking toward the stadium.

Keira just shook her head and tried to keep the hobble out of her step as she followed Jak. It seemed that this was only the beginning of their adventure.

* * *

**A/N**: Le sigh, this story is complete. As Keira indicates, the next adventure begins and you know the rest. I really liked this snippet, so let me know what you think.

Ciao,

-**P**

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**Disclaimer**: I do not own nor did I create Jak II, its characters, plots, locations, etc. It all belongs to Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment America.


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